


To Wilt or Blossom

by hopeworldfan



Category: One Piece
Genre: Angst, Eventual Romance, Fluff, OC Self Insert, Slow Burn, Violence, reborn into one piece fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-28
Updated: 2020-02-28
Packaged: 2021-02-27 21:08:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,085
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22942279
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hopeworldfan/pseuds/hopeworldfan
Summary: She wanted to reborn as a cat,or a panda, something easy with no responsibilities. But life did her no favors in the past, so why would it start now? No, she had to be reborn into the fictional world of One Piece as none other than Walker D. Rosie, daughter to Red-Haired Shanks and inheritor of the 'Will of the D'. She would have preferred a cat. Self Insert. I don't own One Piece.
Relationships: Portgas D. Ace/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 22





	To Wilt or Blossom

**Author's Note:**

> My sun sets to rise again.  
> Robert Browning

Lienna D. Walker was never a pirate, not at heart anyway. Sure, she traipsed around the Grand Line, found a captain she was willing to sail under, tasted the freedom of the open ocean, battled pirates and marines alike, but it wasn’t what she yearned for. The notoriety and fortune did nothing to ease the ache that she felt.

She found what she so desperately wanted in a red-haired pirate, the boy who had sailed under the Pirate King, and was on his way to becoming a fearsome pirate in his own right, already the captain of his own crew. Something in their souls sang when the touched, and though Lienna had never believed in soul mates, she knew they shared something beyond reason. They loved each other, insurmountably and passionately, but the red-haired pirate was young and failed to realize that his love for this woman outweighed his love for the sea, so they went their separate ways.

A few months and three missed periods later, Lienna was faced with the reality that the red-haired pirate left her with more than just a broken heart. With enough treasure stored away to support herself and the new life growing inside of her, she said goodbye to her life of piracy and settled down in her home town.

Six long months later, Lienna gave birth, completely alone, to a baby girl with shocking red hair. The exact same shade of red as the man she loved. The new mother knew what she had to do because that man had only continued to gain notoriety, to gain a bigger bounty, to gain enemies. She knew that to protect her child, her parentage had to be hidden.

So, she did.

When Red-Haired Shanks’ ship docked at her island when her little girl was four, she knew what had to be done. No matter how much her heart yearned for the man that showed up at her doorstep, no matter how much she wanted nothing more than to have a life with him, to raise their daughter together, no matter how much she loved him, she loved her daughter more. She would choose her daughter’s safety every time. So, when Shanks stood in front of her, a bouquet of sunflowers -her favorite- in hand, and the same boyish grin she fell in love with, she slammed the door in his face. 

He persisted relentlessly, but she rejected him each time. It wasn’t until he caught a glimpse of the child, shyly peeking her head around the corner, hair unmistakably the same shade scarlet as his own, that he understood. He knew why Lienna wanted him gone, wanted nothing to do with him. He knew the danger that any association to him brought.

“Just leave Shanks,” Lienna whispered, sorrow and desperation ringing clear in her voice, and he did. It was a decision he would regret for the rest of his life.

* * *

She didn’t know where she was. She didn’t even know who she was. Wait, yes she did, she remembered brown eyes and caramel skin, but what was her name? No matter how hard she racked her brain for a name, how desperately she sought an answer to the most basic of questions, she couldn’t remember her name. There were more important things to focus on though, namely that she still didn’t know where she was. She was warm, she felt safe, but she could barely move, she couldn’t see, and though she had some semblance of hearing, it was muffled.

Was she in a coma? But she could move her body, people in comas couldn’t move. At least she was pretty sure that was how that worked, she wasn’t an expert on comas. She tried to speak but couldn’t open her mouth. Scared was an understatement, she was terrified. 

Then, a comforting voice spoke to her. Well, she assumed the voice was directed at her anyway. She couldn’t make out the words, but the sound of the voice, the laugh, it stopped her from struggling. The voice sounded motherly, but she didn’t recognize it as her own mother. What was her mom’s name again? What did she look like? Why couldn’t she remember anything?

There she stayed, she didn’t know for how long, it was impossible to keep track. The voice started to sound worried when she stopped moving around as much so she would change positions as to not worry them. She had become resigned to her life in the cocoon of warmth. 

Then, everything was chaos. She was being removed from the warmth, from the comfort, but she didn’t know why. There was a blinding light, then everything was so loud, so clear, but she still couldn’t see. Her vision was blurry and she could only vaguely make out shapes. Was someone...holding her? That didn’t make any sense, she was a grown adult, there was no way someone could swaddle her so easily. 

The same voice, the motherly one, spoke to her, but they sounded exhausted. The voice called her Rosie. Was that her name? It didn’t sound right, she thought she would recognize the sound of her name, but there was no familiarity when the voice said Rosie.

She didn’t know what to do, there was nothing she could do, her mouth wouldn’t form words and her motor skills were practically nonexisitent. The only thing she could do was cry, and so she did, because she didn’t know where she was, she didn’t know who she was, and she was scared.

Lienna didn’t know what to do and the poor woman was at the end of her rope, no matter what she did, Rosie continued to wail day in and day out. Then, as suddenly as the crying began, it stopped. The new moher was worried that something was wrong, but there was nothing to fret over, Rosie’s sight had simply finished developing. Now that she could see, she could begin to understand. She could see her miniature hands, could see the woman caring for her, could see the world around her.  
Slowly, she began to recall things. Though her name would forever escape her, she could remember the accident, the hospital, the bright lights, the pain, then...the nothingness. Then it was the warm place, which she could now place as the womb.

She had been reborn. It wasn’t an outlandish concept, she had always believed in reincarnation after death. The only things that didn’t make sense was why she retained the memories of her previous life. It made everything bittersweet. She could live with being reborn, but remembering the life she left behind, the people she left behind, that was hard. The second hardest part was living in a child’s body, it was nothing short of embarrassing.

The bright side to the entire situation was that she got to become a genius. Her new mother marveled at her accelerated development and Rosie had to make a concious effort to not get too out of hand.

Despite everything, Rosie thought her life was pretty good. Her and her mother lived together in peace, and dare she say it, happiness. Her mother adored her, gave into her every whim, and drowned her in love. 

The one thing that still confused her was that she didn’t know where she was. The weather was normal enough, came in seasons -though the summer was harsh-, but her skin was naturally a shade of caramel that protected her from sunburn. Her poor mother wasn’t so lucky, so Rosie assumed her coloring came from her absent father. What confused Rosie the most, however, were the books that she read. 

Her mother had few books, but bought all she could from the small bookstore when she discovered Rosie’s love of literature. She had enjoyed reading in her past life, but now it was more than just a past time, it was a necessity. It was her only was to figure out where the hell she was.

The more she read, the less she understood. The history books were filled with a history that she didn’t recognize. A history filled with kingdoms, of a World Government, of geographical places that tickled at the back of her mind but she couldn’t remember why they sounded familiar.

It wasn’t until she was four that everything clicked into place. Mom was panicked, and a bit said, two things that Mom never was, so Rosie knew that something was wrong. 

“Stay in the living room my little rose, okay?” She instructed with a forced smile and Rosie nodded.

“Okay Mama.” There was a knocking on the door and Mom took a deep breath before going to the front door. A boisterous voice carried through her home once the door was swung open and Rosie scrunched her forhead in confused. There it was again, that tickling at the back of her mind. She recognized that voice, but why did she recognize that voice? Mom never brought her into town, she’d never had an interaction with another human being outside of Mom. Why did that voicfe fill her with such warmth?

She really couldn’t help herself, her whole life comprised of searching for answers, and the voice at her doorstep just might provide some. So stealthily, as stealthily as a four year old could manage, she crept to the hallway and peeked her head around the corner.

The first thing she saw was the red hair, the same shade as her own. She didn’t comprehend just who she was looking at until her gaze strayed down to his face, taking in the three vertical scars along his left eye. Her own eyes widened in shock and she met the gaze of the man who was looking at her with an identical expression.

Her mind was reeling as everthing started to come together in her brain; the history, the geography, Mom’s bedtime stories of pirate adventures that she had always assumed were just that, stories.

“Mama?” She asked later, when the man had left and the woman was putting the sunflowers in a vase.

“Yes, my rose?” Mom responded, already knowing what her smart, too smart at times, daughter was going to ask.

"Who was that man?"

"If I tell you, you have to promise mama that you won't tell anyone? Okay?" She responded, squatting down so her and Rosie were eye level. It sometimes unnerved Lienna when she looked her daughter in the eye, there was something there, they weren't the eyes of a child. They held too much, too much intelligence, too much understanding.

"I promise Mama."

"Pinky promise." The mother and daughter interlocked their pinkies, as serious as if they were forming a contract.

"That man was your papa." She said and Rosie nodded, as if already knowing and merely needing confirmation.

"What does Papa do?"

"He's a pirate, just like Mama used to be." Once again Rosie nodded. There was one more question, one she didn't want to ask, but knew she needed to.

"What's Papa's name?" Lienna sighed, she wasn't surprised by the question.

"His name is Shanks." Rosie nodded for a final time before a grin overtook her face.

"Thanks Mama!" She chirped, placing a sweet kiss on the woman's forehead before skipping outside, leaving Lienna shocked, but not as much as she could have been. Her little girl sure was something.

Outside, Rosie wasn't nearly as cheerful as she had been inside. Because of course. Of course, this was where she ended up, of course that's who her father ended up being. Just, _of course_. Life always had a funny way of throwing crazy situations at her, she thought it couldn't get any more insane than being reborn and retaining all of her memories.

She should have known. Because not only had she been reborn retaining all her memories, but she had been reborn into the fictional world of One Piece, but that couldn't be the end of it, because her father just had to be one of the most powerful men in said world. And just because life couldn't leave it that, there was the little problem of her name. She hadn't thought anything of it before. When her mom said her full name on the rare occasion, she thought her middle name was _Dee_.

Things wouldn't be that easy though, because now she had an inkling that her middle name wasn't as simple as Dee. No, Walker D. Rosie had a strong feeling it wasn't a simple as that.


End file.
